Dream gain early upper hand over Fever in East Finals

Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Tiffany Hayes scored 15 of her game-high 23
points in the second half to lead the Atlanta Dream to an 84-79 win over the
Indiana Fever in Game 1 of the WNBA Eastern Conference finals.

Angel McCoughtry added 18 points for the Dream, the East's second seed, while
Armintie Harrington shot 6-of-9 from the field in a 16-point, seven-rebound
effort.

Tamika Catchings finished with 21 points for the defending WNBA champion
Fever, who downed top-seeded Chicago in two games in the semifinals to advance
to this best-of-three series. Karima Christmas, Erlana Larkins and Shavonte
Zellous each had 15 points in the loss, with Larkins pulling down 12 rebounds.

Indiana owned a 56-53 edge in a tightly contested game in which neither team
led by more than seven points after Erin Phillips knocked down a 3-pointer
with 3:13 left in the third quarter. Hayes answered with a triple on the other
end, though, which ignited a 9-0 Atlanta run that put the Dream up 62-56
entering the fourth quarter.

The Dream held a 67-60 advantage with 7 1/2 minutes left, but the Fever fought
back with a 10-4 burst and pulled within one on a Christmas layup with 4:39 to
go.

Indiana got no closer, however. McCoughtry was fouled while hitting a jumper
with 1:07 left, then made the resulting free throw for an 81-75 Atlanta lead.
She made two more foul shots in the final seconds to seal the victory.